June 5, 18S5.] 



• KNOWLEDGE * 



483 



that he has added one more to the mass of failures which 

 have done such irreparable injury to the cause which they 

 were intended to defend. 



.1 Catahyjtie of Sufpecled Variable Slarg. By J. E. 

 Gore, M.R.LA, F.R.A.S. Dublin: Pousouby i Wed- 

 drich.) — This pi-actically exhaustive catalogue of stars 

 which are on good grounds suspected of variability forms 

 an indispensable supplement to that of the 101 "known 

 variable stare,'' of which we were able to speak in terms of 

 such sincere commendation on p. "243 of our Vlth volume. 

 In Mr. Gore's present work he arran,£;es the suVijects 

 described in their order of right ascension, giving their 

 E.A. and Dec. for the. year 1880. Following these co- 

 ordinates is a column in which the supposed changes of 

 magnitude are taV)ulatod ; which is itself succeeded by 

 another giving the name of the authority for the asserted 

 variability. With a short exordium (explaining the nota- 

 tion employed and the methods by wliich the various data 

 given have been obtained) this catalogue occupies i'^ pages, 

 the remaining 115 which go to complete the volume being 

 occupied by a series of most valuable notes upon the dif- 

 ferent objects described. A map of all known and sus- 

 pected variable stars forms the frontispiece. Every 

 observer of the mysterious bodies with which Mr. Gore's 

 excellent work deals will, merely as a matter of course, 

 obtain it at once. 



Stu<iies in Microscopical Science. Edited by Ainurii 0. 

 Cole, F.R.M.S. Vol. III. Sees. 1, 2, .3, and 4. May, 

 1885. (London : Baillicre, Tiudall, & Cox.)— But little 

 remains to be said here beyond the acknowledgment of the 

 usual monthly instalment of Mr. Cole's admirable and 

 instructive work, which continues to su.stain its well- 

 earned reputation. No working microscojsisfc can possibly 

 afford to be without it. 



Text-book of Entomology. By W. F. Kirby. (London : 

 W. Swan Sonnenschein & Co. 188.5.) — There are few 

 branches of Natural Science which commend themselves 

 more to the beginner than entomology. Universally dis- 

 tributed as insects are, the incipient entomologist finds 

 objects and material for study wherever he may be situated ; 

 while, as his knowledge of his subject increases, he is 

 brought face to face with nature in her most delightful 

 aspects in his search for fresh specimens for collection and 

 investigation. Moreover, it is a branch of study which it 

 costs comparatively nothing to pursue ; so that it is not, 

 like some others, a monopoly of the well-to-do. A better 

 introduction to this fascinating science than that provided 

 by Mr. Kirby it would be difficult to find ; in fact, it 

 is a kind of succinct cyclopedia of the subject. Plain 

 and perspicuous in language, and profusely illustrated (by 

 more than 650 figures), the insect must be a rare one indeed 

 whose genus — and perhaps even whose species — the reader 

 fails to determine without difficulty from these pages. We 

 are glad to see that our author reduces Westwood's Mass 

 of Orders to seven only — viz., Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Neu- 

 roptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, and Dip- 

 tera. The woodcuts are so admirable as almost to clieat 

 the eye familiar with the objects represented into the belief 

 that it is gazing upon the colours which it knows so well ; 

 though in reality, of course, all is in black and white. 

 Advanced entomologists will obtain Mr. Kirby's fine 

 volume as a handy book of reference. The student will 

 buy it as an excellent introduction to the science, and as an 

 absolutely trustworthy text- book. 



Origin and. lieprodv.ction of Animal and Vegetable Life 

 on our Globe. By Tncs. Spencer, F.C.S., F.R.M.S., &c. 

 (London: Effingham Wilson. 1885.) — Suboxide of iron, 

 and nothing else, is, according to our author, the prime 

 agent in the origin and maintenance of life on the earth. 



How this nearly universal substance acts will be found set 

 forth in ^Ir. Spencer's paniplilet. 



Reports of tlif East of Scotland L')tioH of Xatiiralists' 

 Societies (1885.) — This volumo consists of a series of 

 reports of the various sections of the Federation of 

 Natural History Societies in the Eastern Oountie.s of 

 Scotland, setting forth what has been done in the various 

 departments of natural science, and pointing out exactly 

 what yet remains to be accomplished. The reports proper 

 are preceded by a very able and eniinently-praotical 

 inaugural address by Dr. Buchanan White, the President 

 of the Union. 



.Uimosis Inquiela. By Edwin Wooton. (London : 

 Bailliere, Tindall, & Cox.) — The curious disorder whose 

 nature and astiology are discussed in tlie able and original 

 little tract before us is probably more laniiliar to most of 

 our readers under the names of hysteria in the female ami 

 hypochondriasis in the male subject, than under th(> 

 somewhat bizarre-looking one under which our author 

 describes it. The object of Mr. Wooton's book is to show 

 how certain psychical phenomena have their origin in 

 purely physical causes. The medical man and the layman 

 alike may profitably study wliat is here set forth on a sub- 

 ject so obscuro as that of nervous doliility, whose very 

 obscurity has caused its comparative neglect by physio- 

 logists in general, and the ignorance of the facts in connec- 

 tion with which has been traded upon by the very vilest 

 and most degraded of quacks. 



Practical Organic Analysis. By George E. R.Ellis. 

 (London : Longmans, Green, ct Oo. 1S85.) — Primarily 

 intended for medical students — in fact, compiled as a text- 

 book for the tirst M.B. examination Mr. Ellis's little 

 book should really address a much larger public. The 

 pleasure and instruction derivable from experimenting in 

 inorganic chemistry are familiar to multitudes, who may 

 learn from the work whose title heads this notice that 

 organic chemistry is not inferior in fascination to that 

 better known branch of the science. Tlie fourth 

 section, on the " Detection of Simple Poisons in the 

 Presence of Organic Matter," must interest every one 

 having any concern in medical jurisprudence. 



Physical Expression. By Francis Warner, M.D. 

 International Scientific Series, Vol. LII. (London : 

 Kegan Paul, Trench, k Co. 1885.)— Full of matter of 

 grave import to the physiologist, psychologist, pathologist, 

 and anthropologist, this work of Dr. Warner's is written 

 in so dry a style as materially to impair its chance of being 

 studied as it really deserves to be. That the subject of 

 the expression of the emotions, though, may be rendered 

 interesting and readable, we have only to turn to the works 

 of Bell or of Darwin to discover. Dr. Warner's volume 

 embodies the result of a vast amount of scientific investi- 

 gation, and of hard and honest work, the details of which, 

 however, he contrives to give with a sort of monotony, and 

 even level of dulness, which cannot fail to render it un- 

 attractive to the general reader. This is to be regretted, 

 inasmuch as, as we began by hinting, there is so much in it 

 which merits careful study. All who are content to con- 

 done a prosy manner for the sake of the valuable matter 

 set foith in it should get Dr. Warner's volume. 



A'nniial Reports of the Aeronautical Society of Great 

 Britain for the Years l883-i. (London: Hamilton i Co.) 

 — The Aeronautical Society (which is by no means to be 

 confounded with the Balloon Society) is apparently pro- 

 ceeding in a hopeful, but thoroughly jtractical spirit, in its 

 attempt to solve the problem of aerial navigation. There 

 is much that is interesting in the pamphlet before us, and 

 those who wish to gain some idea of the e.xisting condition 

 of Aerostatical Science (or more properly Art) may obtain 



